1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a crop engaging element for an axial flow rotor which is used in both the threshing, separating and discharging sections of the rotor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Agricultural combines are large machines that harvest, thresh, separate and clean an agricultural crop. The resulting clean grain is stored in a grain tank located on the combine. The clean grain can then be transported from the grain tank to a truck, grain cart or other receiving bin by an unloading auger.
Axial flow combines have one or two large rotors arranged along the longitudinal axis of the machine for threshing and separating the harvested crop material. Traditionally different sections of the rotor have different crop engaging assemblies. For example, one proposed rotor has rasp bars and thinning rods in the threshing section and thinning rods in the separating section, See U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,838. In another proposed axial rotor, the threshing section is provided with rasp bars and the separating section is provided with transport bars, See U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,855.
It has also been proposed to use a number of identical blades in both the threshing and separating sections, See U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,168. In addition, the blades may be angled to the longitudinal axis of the rotor and be provided with a slanted leading edge.